Subject
Re: THOUGHTS Hayes-Haze
From
Date
Body
Fran/Jansy: Before we get over-excited: Charlotte Hayes is quite a popular
name (google gives 3,820,000 matches of which the highlights¹ are listed at
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/charlotte/hayes).
IS there clear evidence that Nabokov mangled the name of a London Madame¹
to name Lo¹s mum? Recent MISallusioning with Angus/Hugh MacDiarmid and
earlier confusion with Edsel Ford, must give us pause. Already, the
so-called association of Charlotte Haze with one particular Charlotte Hayes
from many hundreds so-named is triggering fanciful and contradictory
speculation. And rational debate is hindered by the known fact that not
every character named by Nabokov provides a proven, significant, positive
allusion.¹ Goodman in TSLSK is quite nasty, allowing us to argue that ³VN
is playing the irony card.² Likewise, the characters of the two Charlottes
are so disparate that one can be tempted to say: ³Precisely! How
Nabokovian!² Or, like FA, you can ³shift the blame² by one authorial level,
and assert ³Isn¹t that just like the nasty H-H to hint that Madame Procuress
Haze was breeding a nymphet for personal gain.²
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 03/01/2009 13:07, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
>
>
> Subject:
> RE: [NABOKV-L] THOUGHTS: Charlotte Hayes in LO
> From:
> frances assa <franassa@hotmail.com> <mailto:franassa@hotmail.com>
> Date:
> Fri, 2 Jan 2009 06:59:31 -0500
> To:
> Vladimir Nabokov Forum <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>
> <mailto:nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>
>
> "I must confess that I cannot see Charlotte as a "madam" or her daughter in a
> "stable of nymphs" and this is why I'm curious to learn more about this
> suggestion of "debauchery" and poor silly Mrs. Haze-Humbert.( Or am I
> misguided and alone when I find a strain of authorial cruelty in such a
> connection?) "
>
> This discovery of Charlotte Haze-Hayes is indeed exciting. I must say I was
> taken aback at the association of Lo's mother with a Madame, as well. But on
> further thought, we are reading Humbert's madcap story--and as an effete,
> snobby intellectual (to harken to Spiro Agnew) this otherwise inappropriate
> association fits right in. The cur! Fran Assa
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name (google gives 3,820,000 matches of which the highlights¹ are listed at
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/charlotte/hayes).
IS there clear evidence that Nabokov mangled the name of a London Madame¹
to name Lo¹s mum? Recent MISallusioning with Angus/Hugh MacDiarmid and
earlier confusion with Edsel Ford, must give us pause. Already, the
so-called association of Charlotte Haze with one particular Charlotte Hayes
from many hundreds so-named is triggering fanciful and contradictory
speculation. And rational debate is hindered by the known fact that not
every character named by Nabokov provides a proven, significant, positive
allusion.¹ Goodman in TSLSK is quite nasty, allowing us to argue that ³VN
is playing the irony card.² Likewise, the characters of the two Charlottes
are so disparate that one can be tempted to say: ³Precisely! How
Nabokovian!² Or, like FA, you can ³shift the blame² by one authorial level,
and assert ³Isn¹t that just like the nasty H-H to hint that Madame Procuress
Haze was breeding a nymphet for personal gain.²
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 03/01/2009 13:07, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
>
>
> Subject:
> RE: [NABOKV-L] THOUGHTS: Charlotte Hayes in LO
> From:
> frances assa <franassa@hotmail.com> <mailto:franassa@hotmail.com>
> Date:
> Fri, 2 Jan 2009 06:59:31 -0500
> To:
> Vladimir Nabokov Forum <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>
> <mailto:nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>
>
> "I must confess that I cannot see Charlotte as a "madam" or her daughter in a
> "stable of nymphs" and this is why I'm curious to learn more about this
> suggestion of "debauchery" and poor silly Mrs. Haze-Humbert.( Or am I
> misguided and alone when I find a strain of authorial cruelty in such a
> connection?) "
>
> This discovery of Charlotte Haze-Hayes is indeed exciting. I must say I was
> taken aback at the association of Lo's mother with a Madame, as well. But on
> further thought, we are reading Humbert's madcap story--and as an effete,
> snobby intellectual (to harken to Spiro Agnew) this otherwise inappropriate
> association fits right in. The cur! Fran Assa
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/